Bruins earn runaway win over Red Wings

Torey Krug scored one power-play goal and set up another on
Saturday night. (Getty Images)

Final: Boston 4, Detroit 1

Recap: With 8:56 gone and the Bruins looking
like the better team out of the chute, Niklas Kronwall was guilty
of holding Loui Eriksson and went to the box. Just 15 ticks into
the man advantage, Torey Krug ripped a shot from the point past
Jimmy Howard with Zdeno Chara screening in front, staking Boston to
a 1-0 lead. At 16:49 of the opening frame, the Wings' top line
evened things up. Tuukka Rask kicked a rebound out to Henrik
Zetterberg, and the Detroit captain fired it home.

In the second, Brad Marchand tallied on the opening shift with a
snipe over Howard's right shoulder. Boston made it a 3-1 game a
little more than seven minutes later on Jordan Caron's first
(genuine) goal of the season.

The Wings mounted little pressure in the second half of the
tilt, during which the B's made it a three-goal game with their
second power-play strike of the night, courtesy of Zdeno Chara.

Records: Boston 2-0-0, four points; Detroit
2-1-0, four points

Key Play of the Game: Caron's goal truly did in
the Wings. On the play, Reilly Smith showed great patience, passing
on sending a backhander Howard's way that likely wouldn't have
found twine, instead sending a pass to Caron, who had an open near
side of the net to shoot at.

Connolly's Commendations: The third line
(Caron, Smith, Chris Kelly) was tremendous again. More on them
later.

Krug was deservedly named the game's first star, as he scored a
power-play goal and set up another. It sure feels wacky to have
confidence in the Bruins when they're on the man advantage. Krug is
a big part of that.

There was noticeable improvement from the fourth line in this
one. The Paille-Campbell-Thornton trio was quiet against the Bolts,
but they set up a few chances for themselves. If a centering pass
or two connected, they could've easily potted one.

Connolly's Critiques: No complaints
tonight.

Notes: Brad Marchand needed help getting off
the ice after getting laid out on a semi-inadvertent hit by Justin
Abdelkader. He missed a few shifts in the second period but
eventually returned. For Krug, the goal was the first
regular-season tally of his NHL career.

Final Thoughts: Boston markedly improved across
the board after a so-so showing on opening night. The defense
tightened up, the third line was tremendous and Rask made all the
necessary saves to help the Bruins take care of business against a
team that was clearly feeling the effects of having played three
games in four nights.

Next: The Bruins won't be back in action
until Thursday when they play host to the Avalanche.